Your Right to Know

Several members of the Ohio Board of Education today requested a special meeting to discuss the
controversy surrounding Board President Debe Terhar and her Facebook post about Adolf Hitler and
gun control.

“The reason for this special meeting will be for the members of the state board to have the
opportunity to discuss together the situation regarding your posting on Facebook and how this is
reflecting on board leadership,” board members Deborah Cain, Ann Jacobs, Jeffrey Mims and Mary Rose
Oakar wrote in an e-mail to Terhar.

Terhar, a Cincinnati Republican, did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Whether a special meeting of the 19-member board is held will be her call as the request from
four members falls short of the majority needed to require one.

The board meets monthly with its next gathering scheduled for Feb. 11-12. However, many
members are expected to be in Columbus Wednesday for the first meeting of the state board’s
accountability committee, tasked with implementing new state report cards and other education
initiatives adopted last year by the General Assembly.

Earlier this week, the same four board members urged Terhar to issue a public apology.

Following the Connecticut school massacre and President Barack Obama’s call for tighter gun
laws, Terhar drew fire for posting on her Facebook page a photograph of Hitler along with this
quote: “Never forget what this tyrant said, ‘To conquer a nation first disarm its citizens’ — Adolf
Hitler.” Critics said the posting seemed to compare the president to the Nazi leader responsible
for millions of deaths in World War II.

Jacobs, a Lima Republican, said the controversy continues to snowball and has undermined the
board’s credibility.